How do I find a Section 8 application form online and apply for Section 8 housing assistance?

A Section 8 application form is not actually to apply for HUD, but to apply for Section 8 housing assistance. HUD is not a rental assistance program in itself. HUD provides funding to housing authorities to run these programs. A Section 8 application can be obtained when applications are being accepted for the Section 8 waiting list
by your local housing authority. Most PHA's post their applications online to avoid massive turnouts.

Am I on the Section 8 waiting list after I fill out a Section 8 application form?

HUD allocates funds to Housing Authorities that in turn, administer the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program locally. The Voucher Program is usually just referred to as Section 8 housing assistance. Finding a Section 8 application online can be difficult indeed due to the fact that most Housing Authorities must keep their Section 8 waiting lists closed because of overwhelming interest in that particular rental assistance program. Once an applicant has completed an application for Section 8 via their local housing authority, they are on that particular Section 8 waiting list. The dilemma is that there is a lack of funds to provide enough housing vouchers to satisfy the enormous demand nation wide. The Section 8 and Subsidized Housing Online Packet assists it's members in locating these applications, properties and other programs online.

Completing a Section 8 application for the Housing Choice Voucher Program is probably the most well known method for obtaining rental assistance for a low income family or individual. The Section 8 housing program is subsidized by HUD and administered by housing authorities nation wide. Applications are always FREE at your local housing authority when applications are being accepted. Section8programs.com helps their clients find open waiting list, apply for the Consolidation Program, which is unique to Section8programs.com. This is a grant program that offers small assistance checks, not rental vouchers.

Members of the Online Packet can find open Section 8 waiting lists nation wide and apply for Section 8 when applications are being accepted by their local housing authority. It is always free to apply for Section 8 or Public Housing. Section 8 application in their area. They can also use their Online Packet to learn about other lesser known government rental assistance programs and how, where and when to apply.

Section 8 housing voucher holders can user their Online Packet to retrieve listings of available Section 8 housing in their area, and apply for the Section 8 Consolidation program online. You can apply for Section 8 vouchers at public housing agencies and at regional non-profit housing agencies otherwise known as Housing Authorities: Public housing agencies, or housing authorities, issue a local Section 8 application for vouchers.
Regional agencies issue Section 8 vouchers from the Department of Housing and Community Development.
About one fourth of the state's applications come from the DHCD.
It doesn't matter whether you get a voucher or a DHCD voucher.
You can put your name on the Section 8 waiting list and DHCD waiting lists at the same time.

The waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers are usually long. In Massachusetts, there are three types of waiting lists:

Centralized Section 8 application waiting list: Many public housing agencies share a centralized waiting list for Section 8 vouchers. This waiting list is maintained by the Section 8 Centralized Waiting List which is open indefinitely.
Section 8 waiting list: The Department of Housing and Community Development has a separate waiting list for vouchers. Their Section 8 waiting list is always open.
You may also apply at public housing agencies in other states, to be put on their waiting lists. If you get a voucher from a Section 8 application in another state, you may have to move to the region where you got the voucher.
If you move while you are on a waiting list, be sure to notify your housing agency so they can contact you when a voucher is available.

The Section 8 application form program involves the voucher program. A voucher may be either "project-based" which is really the same thing as low income housing, also called: public housing. The recipient may reside anywhere in the United States (including Puerto Rico) where a housing authority operates a Section 8 program.
Under the Section 8 housing voucher program, individuals or families with a voucher find and lease a unit (either in a specified complex or in the private sector) and pay a portion of the rent. Most households pay 30% of their adjusted income for Section 8 housing. Adjusted income is a household’s gross (total) income minus deductions for dependents under 18 years of age, full-time students, disabled persons, or an elderly household, and certain disability assistance and medical expenses.

The Housing Authority pays the Section 8 landlord the remainder of the rent over the tenant's portion, subject to a cap referred to as "Fair Market Rent". This means making the rent resemble that of other properties in that area. Each year, the federal government looks at the rents being charged for privately owned apartments in different communities, as well as the costs of utilities (heat, electricity, etc.) in those communities. The "Fair Market Rents" are an estimate of the average gross rents (rents plus utilities) for medium-quality apartments of different sizes in a particular community. As an example, 2012 FMR for 1 bedroom housing in San Francisco is $1522 and in New York is $1280 while in many other places it is less than $500.
The landlord cannot charge a Section 8 tenant more than a reasonable rent and cannot accept payments outside the contract.
In addition, landlords, don't have to rent exclusively to section 8 tenants.
However, other landlords can benefit from accepting Section 8 tenants, due to:
a large available pool of potential renters (the waiting list for new Section 8 housing tenants is usually very long and they can find tenants quickly. Furthermore the rent is practically guaranteed as it is mostly subsidized. In many instances a tenant may be removed from the program if they owe a previous landlord monies).
Whether voucher or project-based, all subsidized units must meet the HQS, thus ensuring that the family has a healthy and safe place to live. This improvement in the landlord's private property is an important byproduct of this program, both for the individual families and for the larger goal of community development.

Section 8 Applicants may complete a Section 8 application at any county or city housing authority office in their state when applications are being accepted, and although rules vary according to each authority, in general, residents of a particular area who receive a voucher from the jurisdiction in which they live may use the voucher anywhere in the country, but nonresidents of the jurisdiction must live in the jurisdiction that issues the voucher to them for 12 months before they can move to a different area. Also, priority for a section 8 voucher is often reserved for those who reside in the service area of that housing authority.

In many cities the housing authority lists for Section 8 housing vouchers may be thousands of families long, waits of three to six years to access vouchers is common, and many lists are closed to new applicants. Wait lists are often briefly opened (often for just five days), which may occur as little as once every seven years. Some PHAs use a Section 8 lottery application approach, where there can be as many as 100,000 applicants for 10,000 spots on the open section 8 waiting list, with spots being awarded on the basis of weighted or non-weighted lotteries, with priority sometimes given to local residents, the disabled, veterans, and the elderly. There is no guarantee that anyone will ever receive a spot on the waiting list.

Housing Authorities run rental assistance programs locally. The only way for potential applicants to complete a Section 8 application is via their local housing authority when they are accepting applications. A section 8 application is for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Waiting lists for this subsidized rental assistance program tend to be very long.

The Section 8 and Subsidized Housing Online Packet is an excellent resource for finding this information. The Online Packet is updated weekly with information about Section 8 waiting list openings for every city and state in the United States.

Rent is subsidized by HUD in a sense. Under the voucher program, individuals or families with a voucher find and lease a unit (either in a specified complex or in the private sector) and pay a portion of the rent. Most households pay 30% of their adjusted income for Section 8 housing. Adjusted income is a households gross (total) income minus deductions for dependents under 18 years of age, full-time students, disabled persons, or an elderly household, and certain disability assistance and medical expenses.

HUD allocates funds to housing authorities, who in turn administer the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program locally. It is very difficult to find a housing authority that has an open waiting list and is accepting a Section 8 application. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers a website that tenants can use to find low-income housing. Several local housing authorities also maintain a website or a separate list of Section 8 landlords in their area. Both of these services are provided free of charge to tenants and landlords. This is done by researching housing authorities and finding those that have an open section 8 housing application waiting list. One misnomer, is that each state only has one housing authority. each state has somewhere between 4 to 10 housing authorities in it' different counties and cities. Just because one is closed, others may be accepting applications for section 8. Each PHA has their own preferences when it comes to accepting applicants from out of town. Section8programs.com makes applicants aware that they can be on several different waiting list at once. Everyone knows how to apply for section 8, but few are able to locate PHA's that are accepting applications. Section8programs.com is a private company that helps people to locate an affordable housing application.